By manie



Aug. 21, 1928. 1,681,393

I. F. BURTON SPRING MOTOR Filed May 21, 1924 5 Sheets-$heet 1 Aug. 21, 1928 1,681,393

n. F. BURTON SPRING MOTOR Filed May 21, 1924 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I. F. BURTON SPRING MOTOR Filed May 21, l924 5 Sheets-Sheet Aug. 21, 1928. 1,681,393

I. F. BURTON SPRING MOTOR Filed May 21, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Aug. 21, 1928.

v 1,681,393 I. F. BURTON I SPRING MOTOR Filed May 21, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Aug. 21, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC r. BURTON, DECEASED, LATE OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, BY MANIE E. BURTON, EXECUTRIX OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO VIS- UALATONE COMPANY OF AMERICA, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A COR- PORATION OF DELAWARE.

SPRING- MOTOR.

Appfication filed May :21,

second spring oppositely spiraled and axially spaced trom the first, permitting the plate to float rai'lially and circun'lferentially around.

the common axis during ceiling and uncoiling ot the linked siiirings.

A 'lurther purpose is to improve the character of connection with a uniting or coupling sleeve and with a coupling plate.

A further purpose is to provide a novel form of interior sleeve for energy transmission to and from the springs, for interior coir pling between adjacent pairs of springs, interior coupling between the spring at one end (it a composite series of springs and a winding elementpaud interior coupling between the spring at the other end of the composite spring and the element for power transmission.

A further purpose is to use sleeves interchangeably tor driving the initial. spring or for transmittingencrgy from the final spring of a pair or series and to utilize sleeves which may be of the same character but of greater length to secure floating connection between the oppositely spiraled adjoining springs of oppositely spiraled pairs of springs.

A further purpose is to. reduce the weight, improve the strength and resilience and simplify the manufacture of the winding and coupl'ng sleeves.

A. in tilltrpurpose is to provide a floating and preferably a sleeve connection between adj ac it springs of coaxial adjacent pairs of oppositi-aly spiraled springs.

A further purpose is to provide for grouping of .s of springs upon axes out of line and preferably parallel whether one or more pairs of springs comprise each set.

A further purpose is to adapt connected sets about dillerent ar s comprising pairs of om'iositely spiraled springs to drive a single spindle or a set of spindles as desired.

The invention relates to the methods involved and also to the structure by which these methods may be carried out.

1924. Serial No. 714,797.

Further purposes will appear in the specift cation and in the claims.

It is preferred to illustrate the invention by the development of one term only with several different groupings by which it may be carried out, selecting a form and group ings which are simple, compact practical and effective and which at the same time well illusi tratc the principles involved.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a phonograph record driving mechanism.

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the structu re seen in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a section of Figure 3 taken on line 1%, showing the spring relaxed.

Figure 5 is asection corresponding to Figure 4 showing the spring wound.

Figure 6 is a section of Figure 3 taken upon the line 66 to show the second spring of the pair.

Figures 7 ,8 and 9 are perspective views of two coupling sleeves and a. coupling plate respectively, utilized in Figures 1 to 6.

Figure 10 is a top plan view corresponding to Figure 1 but having two spring unit pairs about a common shaft.

Figure 11 is the section upon line 11-11 of Figure 10. V

Figure 12 is a top plan view corresponding to Figures 1 and 10 but showing additional unit pairs of springs used for a longer run.

Figure 13 is a side elevation of the section seen in Figure 12. I

Figure 14. is a section of Figure 12 taken upon line l t--14. i

Figures 15 and 16 are fragmentary side and end elevations showing gearing reversing the direction of winding.

Figure 17 is a top plan view. similar to Figures -1. 10 and 12, showing a different way of building up a unit pair of springs to obtain along run.

In the drawings similar numerals indicate like parts. v

Describing in illustration andnot in. limi' tation and referring to the drawings The invention is directed primarily to the compact assemblage and the coupling of springs toprovide a composite spring of any desired length having a minimumsize and friction in the connections for use with spring motors to give strength. I H y Any desired number of alternately oppositely spiraled springs are arranged along and around a common shaft and connected in series, providing circumterentially and radially floatingconnection between the exterior ends within each pair of as many pairs of springs asmay be used and to provide a loose sleeve connection between the int ends of the adjoining springs of adjoi pairs to term a composite spiral spring. end of the composite spring connects to and drives the load while the other, norn'ially the winding point, when wound held against unwinding. I i

Any desired number of such composite spring elements are connected, each about a different axis, to operate inseries by means of suitable gearing, locating the shafts with reruns. of any desired length and spect to auxiliary apparatus or to one another according to need and circumstance, and winding the whole composite element at any desired part otfthe series gearing. l t preferred to Windat the held one of the compositeseries, andwhere there a plurality oi composite elements about di crentshafts or axes. It is usually preferred to place the shafts parallel to one another.

Asv the basis of the composite spring a spring pair is utilized one term of which is shown in theiigures as coupled up with and driving the mechanism of a phonograph which phonograph structure for simplicity and to show'the interchangeabilityot the forms of spring shown has beenretained thesame throughout the illui-z-tiiatioi is. It is wished to make clear however, as will be ohvious by the invention itself, that it is in no Way limited to phonograph use but may be applied to any or the varied uses for which springs have been applied in the past as.

\LL as to additional uses for which the limitations 01" previous springs have hitherto rendered them unsuitable. The motor mounting plate 20 is shown supporting all of the parts illustrated, 1ncluding the two brackets 21, 21 by which the springassemb-lageis carried.

The bearingsupport .tor the turntable is 'shown at 22 and bearings for the governor at 28, 28. The separate. control25 and the stop arms 26', 27 are pivotally secured to the plate by screws. in dot and dash.

The governor and its associated mechanism,

A turntable 28 is illustrated V including thes top devices is illustrated and described fully in the application copending herewith, bearing Serial No. 8823 for Governor and governor stop, and for that reason will not be described in the same detail here. It has nothing to do with the present invention and is included for completeness of illustration only. 1

In general the governor is driven from the turntable shaft 29 through a pair of gears 30 and 31. The revoluhlc spring arms 32 are bent outwardly by the halls and d aw the disc 3% toward the stop 35 whose position is adjustably controlled by the position oi the arm 25.

Applying the description particularly now to Figures 1 to 9 the spring unit pair in conjunction with the particular mounting used for it when a s1" pair only used will bo described first.

The brackets 21, 21 support bearings 3t, 3'? for a shaft 38 which forms a support for the part. From the construction it will be seen that winding could he eii'ected either from the shaft or from a collar or sleeve about the shaft. It is found more coi'ivenicnt to wind from the shut; and accordingly recess and thread its end at 39 to receive the winding key.

The shaft forms a support for the loose initial and transmission sleeves 4:0, 41 within he springs oi: the pair. The initial sleeve is the first sleeve of the train in winding and hence may he considered as a winding sleeve. It is also the last sleeve oi. the train considered from the standpoint of holding the springs against unwinding at that end after they have been wound.

In order to form convenient connection between the supporting shaft and the winding sleeve at) a connecting collar 4-2 is provided, keyed to the shaft as by set screw 43 and intertitting axially with the sleeve so that the collar 42 will drive the sleeve 40. One member of the clutch mechanism hereinafter described is rigid with the collar.

The collar carries a ratchet clutch member a ls-1t having ratchet pool is 45 within which lie rollers l6 adapted to slip with rotation of the collar in winding direction. In the opposite direction of relative movement the rollers engage with the inner surface 417 of a fixed clutch druni 4-8 so as to hold the spring in wound position. The direction of the slope ot the bottoms of we pockets will depend upon the intcn d direction of driving, which tor con\-'enici -c is he made countercloclr-wise to sinipf i'y the din connection with the turntable. The sleeve l0 need not be greater in axial length than the width required tor proper coupling to the spring but is conveniently made somewhat long r than the spring width to make it more acre. 'ihl for connection with the driving collar 4-2. The sleeve 40 is connected with the inner end ot a spring e19, which is in turn coupled at its outer end by a plate with the outer end of an omiiositely wound spring M. The inner end ot spring 51 is in turn connected with the sleeve t1, here a duplicate of sleeve 40.

For convenience in identification the spring which is nearest the winding connection will be called the rear spring, and the other, which is wound wholly through the first will be called the forward spring.

The springs49 and 51 are separated by any radially extending member 52, which is most conveniently in the form of a plate as illustrated. It may ride upon any of the adjoining parts such as upon the shaft. The method of its support is really immaterial as it comprises a floater merely to prevent axial interlapping of the springs. I

The energy from driven sleeve ll may be transmitted to the shaft 29 through a driven collar 54 interfitting longitudinally with sleeve 41 and carrying worm gear 55Which engages with the worm 56 on the main turntable shaft.

The unit spring pair is shown as enclosed within a casing which is a mere cover except in so far as its ends may be used to keep the plate 50 in line against lateral torsion. It is supported upon one of the sleeves in the illustration of Figure 3 and is closed by a face plate 58. The face plate is held in position by a circular spring 59 sprung into annular recess 60 of the casing.

In the broader aspects of the invention the detail of the driving and driven transn'iission sleeve and of the connecting plate are not involved but both of these are novel and will be claimed specifically and they will therefore be described.

The two sleeves 40, 41 are duplicates. They do not completely close, one or both sides folding or booking back longitudinally and one side connecting with a hook bend on the inner end of its surrounding spring. These sleeves are conveniently made out of sheet metal curved interiorally at 61 to form the bearing upon the shaft, reversely turned at 62 and preferably also at63 leaving space 64 for the key 65 of collar 42 orof collar 54: and exteriorly formed at 66 to form a preferably curved exterior surfaceagainst which the springs are Wound. The reversely turned end or ends are spaced fromthe interior portion 61 as at 67 one of the edges or ends is exposed as a hook for spring attachment. In the illustration both are turned and both exposed, the edges68, 69 being spaced circumferenti'ally to give room for insertion of a hook end 70 upon the interior of the spring. As these oppositely turned ends are duplicates the hook end 70 of the spring can be inserted which ever way the sleeve is put in.

As the opposite ends are duplicates also it does not matter which end of the sleeve is put outwardly. w

The outer ends of the springs are also hooked as shown at 71 so that the hook of the spring 49 will fit along approximately half of the length axially of either edge 72 of the plate 50 while the hook 71, at the upper end of the duplicate spring will fitover approximately the other half of the length axially of the other edge 72 of the plate.

Though other forms of floating connection are advantageous in the broader aspects of the invention, the thin band typified in the plate has a special value in its flatness and cooperation with a simple and strong spring fastening.

Neither spring need rigidly fasten to the plate 50, the plate remaining in place substantially perpendicular to both springs While floating around the shaft as the springs are wound up and uncoil.

Whatever tendency there may be for the plate to turn diagonally, no such turning is apparent. It will be noted that the arm of the turning moment is the very small distance between the springs while the arm of the balancing moment is the width of the plate, many times as great. Further it will be noted that diagonal turning of the plate would spread the springs apart which is re sisted by the hold of the spring ends upon the plate directly edgewise to spreading, i. e., parallel to the spring axes.

In operation the winding key is inserted within the shaft 38 and is turned to wind, reverse (unwinding) movement of the spring being prevented by the roller clutch. As the first spring, 49, is woundit carries the second with it at approximately half the angular speed (measured at the outer end of the second spring) as compared with the winding speed. The plate 50 also travels approximately half the angular distance during the winding and the other half during the running of the motor. The two springs divide the winding torsion according to their strength.

During this winding operation the plate 50 not only turns circumferentially but also tightens up toward the center as the outer turns of the two springs contract, floating freely to equalize the tension of the two springs. The cover 57 need perform no function in this except to protect the parts from dust and mechanical interference but its ends may be usedito support the side-edges of plate 50 against turning in tangential planes.

I When the operated shaft is free to turn the springs gradually unwind together until both are unwound. The plate 50 unwinds approximately half as many revolutions as the sleeve 41'. v

The sleeves l0 and 41 are preferably accessible from the ends of the cover casings for oiling purposes.

In the other figures groupings of spring unit pairs uniteany desired number of pairs in series to-form a singlecomposite spiral to operate as one long unit. g

In Figure 10 two spring unit pairs are shown axially in line and in Figure 12 this number is increased to three. Because of greater compactness and lowered friction it is desirable to place all of the unit pairs used axially in line if the space available permit,

i ll) sleeve taking'the place :since the increase in bulk is merely that of the additional unit pair and the same winding mechanism, shaft and shaft bearings OlCllnarily suflice; Wlth an excessive length of shaft additional bearing support can of shaft '38 andthero is a long cou )lm sleeve 72-3 between the two unit pairs, one end of this sleeve taking the. place in the right-hand pair of the sleeve ll and the other end of the the left-hand pair of thesleeve 4C0. i 1 s I Thesleeve' 73 ,is'shown in Figure 8 and is of-the same character exactly as the sleeve 40,-41 shown in Figure? differing from it only in having additional'l'cngth. The cover casing'57 of the one pair and the end plate 58 of the other are given support upon this sleeve. I

In Figures 12, 13 and lei. a set of three unit pairsis mounted upon a single shaft. This is the structure of Figuresv and 11, except that an additional pair hasl een added, using an additionalsleeve 7 3 to connect the second (and third pairs, and. the sleeve 54 driven by the sleeve :41 instead of connecting by, a. spiral gear with the worm wheel is shown asconnectingthrough gear 75, idler 76 upon studshaft 77 with gear 78 mounted upon drivingesleeve l2 ofafourth unit pair of springs, connected as in Figures lto 6 to the turntable 28.

The spring unit pair shown in section in Figure 14 as mounted upon a shaft parallel with the initial winding shaft is a duplicate of the springunit pair of- Figures 1-6. Additional spring unit pairs may be mounted V to its right, suitably extending the shaft 7 9.

. It Willbe seen that the spring unit pairs -may not only be mounted toany desiredeX- tent lIlJ-SGIlGS along the same shaft as shown in Figures 10 and ll and in FigureslfZ and 18 but one or: more spring unit pairs may be mounted upon connected shafts as in Figures 12 and13 to securethe additionallength of any. desired; number of additional unit pairs.

It is sometimes desirable to wind in reverse directionfrom that f theratchet clutch 44. Obviously, this maybe readily accomplished as illustrated in Figures 15 and 16 where an auxiliary winding shaftSl) issupported on brac net 21-". in a suitable bearing Sland carries aspur-gear 82 engaging a gear 83 upon a driving sleeve 42 The latter gear may be rigid-wither rota-table upon the shaft 38.

"Obviously composite springs on. any numberof, different shafts maybe united by suitgable gearinglspur or bevel) in series or in parallel 'or abothi "This is shown in i sure nects by driving gear 86 and idler S7 to gear of the composite spring arrangement shown in Figure 12.

The effect of thus connecting an auxiliary driving unit SA in parallel with the driving unit 88 obviously that of increasing the strength but not the length of the ultimate drive. As indicated in Figure 17, when units upon different shafts are connected to drive in parallel it is desirable to wind at the longer unit (as at 89 of Figure 17) the correspoiuling end of the shorter unit being lived as at 90. It will also usually be desirable to have the length of composite spring in the units 84- and 91 substantially the same inasmuch as they are geared together.

Obviously the idlers 87 and 7 7 may be dispensed with if an increased size for the gears 86, 75 and 78 is notobjecl'ionable, as there is no necessity nor even particular advantage in having these gears all revolve in the same direction. The parts on the composite spring of each shaft are interchangeably adapted to assembly for driving in either direction, it being substs'intially equally easy to assemble for one direction of drive as for the other.

ll hile for greater ease of manufacture and assembly ii: is usually preferred to have all the springs of equal strength and length. this is not 6f-8 'ltldl. and in specific cases it may be advantageous to use hprings of diil'creut strength and length; for example, where many springs are connected together in series they may be mane progressively weaker, with the strongest spring at the winding end of the series, difference in frictional resistance, greatest at the winding end.

In view of the invention and disclosuin variations and ll'lOdlfiCtltiOnS will doubtless become evident to others skilled in the art to meet individual whim or particular need and all such is claimed in so fair as they full with in the reasonable spirit and scope of the invention.

1. In a spring motor, a supporting shaft, a pair of sleeves thereon, a pair of oppositely spiraled springs about the sleeves, the one sleeve engaging one of the springs to wind it and the other engaged by the second syn-mg to transmit the energy thereo l, a floating arcua te plate extending transversely to the outer ends of both springs and books on the outer ends of the springs engaging opposite edges of opposite ends of the plate to transmit the energy of the first spring to the plate and from the plate to the second spring.

2. In a spring motor, a central shaft, a pair of oppositely spiraled springs surrounding the shaft, a spacer between the springs transverse to the shaft, a winding sleeve engaging the interior of one of the springs, a transmission sleeve engaged by the inner end of the llll) second spring, a floating arcuate plate engaged at opposite ends and opposite sides by the outer ends of the two springs, means for turning the winding sleeve and clutch means for preventing reverse turning thereof.

3. In a springmotor, an outer casing, a pair of oppositely spiraled coaxial and anlally spaced springs therein, supporting, Winding and transmitting connections therefor, a plate free from the springs and easing, overlapping a considerable extent of the outer ends of both springs and hooks on the ends of the springs engaging opposite edges of the plate close to the adjacent sides of the two springs and tending to shear the plate.

4. In a spring motor, a supporting shaft,- a sleeve thereon having an axially presented keyway in the end thereof, a winding collar having a key entering the keyway, meansfor preventing reverse turning of the winding collar, and a spring about the sleeve engaged by it for winding purposes.

5. In aspring motor, a supporting shaft, a pair of sleeves thereon having longitudinal keyways in their outer ends, a pair of oppositely spiraled springs respectivelyconnected with said sleeves at their inner ends and connected together at their outer ends, awinding collar having a key fitting within the keyway of the first spring sleeve and a transmission collar having a key entering the keyway of the second spring sleeve.

G. In a spring motor, a supporting shaft, a pair of sleeves freely mounted and relatively axially spaced thereon, a pair of oppositely spiraled springs respectively connected with the sleeves at their inner ends, floating connection between the springs at their outer ends, a driving collar connected to rotate with the shaft, winding connections for the shaft, means for preventing reverse movement of the shaft and collar, key connections between the winding collar and first sleeve, a driven collar having a key connection with the second sleeve and gearing connected with the driven collar.

7. A supporting shaft, a pair of reversely wound spiral springs axially spaced along it, holding means at the inner end of one spiral, power transmission means at the inner end of the other, a radially and circumferentially floating connection between the outer ends of the springs and a spacer between the springs located radially beneath the floating connection.

8. In a spring motor, a plurality of shafts, a plurality of alternately oppositely spiraled springs ranged along each shaft, floating series connection between the adjacent ends of the springs along each shaft forming a com posite spring, a transmission member for each shaft surrounding it having operating connection with one end of its composite spring, driving connection between the transmission members linking the composite springs of the respective shafts into one major composite spring, holding means at one end of the major composite spring, and a driving member linked to the other end thereof.

9. In a spring motor, a plurality of shafts, a pair of oppositely spiraled springs surrounding each shaft, connection between the outer ends of the springs of each pair, wind ing connections for the inside of the spring of a pair upon the first shaft, a gear about the first shaft, connections between the inside of the second spring upon the first shaft with said gear, a gear upon the second shaftconnected with the gear upon the first shaft, driving connections from the gear upon the second shaft with the inside of one spring of the pair upon the second shaft and transmission connections from the inner end of the second spring upon the second shaft.

10. In a spring motor, two parallel shafts,

bearings therefor, a pair of oppositely spiraled springs on the first shaft, driving and driven sleeves connected with the inner ends of the respective springs on said shaft, floating connections between the outer ends of the springs of this pair, a gear connected with and coaxial with the driven sleeve,a gear on the second shaft operated by the gear on the first shaft, a pair of oppositely spiraled springson the second shaft, floating connections between the outer ends thereof, driving and driven sleeves about the second shaft and connected to the inner ends of the respective second springs, connection between the driving sleeve and the gear about the Second shaft and transmission connections from the inner end of the second spring upon the second shaft.

11. In a spring motor, a plurality of sup porting shafts, the first being a winding shaft and the last a transmission shaft, a composite spiral about each shaft each comprising oppositely spiraled interconnected springs, series gearing between the spirals, holding means at one end of the series and power transmission means at the other to transmit the energy at all times through the transmission shaft.

12. In a spring motor, a shaft, bearings therefor and driving and driven sleeves about the shaft, oppositely spiraled coaxial springs about the shaft connected together at their outer ends and connected to the respective sleeves at their inner ends, gearing connections with the driven sleeve, a pair of shafts parallel with the first shaft, a pair of sleeves about each. of these two shafts, gearing connections between each of these pairs of sleeves with the gearing connected with the first driven sleeve, a pair of coaxial oppositely spiraled springs about each of the two pairs of sleeves upon the additional shafts connected respectively to the sleeves of the corresponding pair, connections between the outer ends of the springs in each pair, and operating connections for the second sleeve of one of the additional pairs.

1-3. In a spring motor, a shaft, bearmgs therefor and driving and driven sleeves about 1 the shaft, oppositely spiraled coaxial springs about the shaft connected together at their outer'ends and connected to the respective sleeves at their inner ends, gearing connections with the driven sleeve, a pair of shafts parallel with the first shaft, a pair of sleeves about each of these two shafts, gearing connections between each of these pairs of sleeves with .the gearing connected With the first driven-sleeve, a pair of coaxial oppositely spiraled springs about each of the two pairs of sleeves upon the additional shafts connected respectively to the sleeves of the corresponding pair,'connections between the outer ends of the springs in each pair, and operat- 'ingconneetions for the second sleeve of one 'to present a hook edge'vvhich is tangentially free.

'16. In a spring motor, a transmission sleeve longitudinally open and reversely folded along oth sides into oppositely directed hooks. a

17. Ina spring motor, a sleeve for spring LeQLBQLi attachment having general cylindrical form and presenting oppositely directed edges spaced circumfercntially from each other and radially from the inner portion of the sleeve.

18. In a spring motor, a sleeve for spring attachment of general cylindrical form presenting circulnferentially directed pockets accessible from the outside of the sleeve and a keyway accessible from the end.

19. A sleeve for spring connection comprising sheet material, cylindrically formed to approximately a cylinder, revcrsely turned leaving a key space and cylindrically formed to approximately a complete circle, leaving the edges of the metal spaced from each other and adapting the outer cylinder for spring at taehment.

20. A sleeve for spring motor support and operation of general cylindrical shape having an end keyway and having a side opening for hook attachment beneath the cylindrical surface.

21. In a spring motor, a sleeve for spring attachment of approximately cylindrical shape havin a longitudinal key opening the length of the sleeve and having a circumferential opening for hooked attachment.

In a spring motor, a sleeve for spring attachment of approximately cylindrical shape having a longitudinal key opening the length of the sleeve and having a radial and circumferential opening at a diil'erent part of the circumference for hooked attachment.

MANIE E. BURTON, Ewecutria of the Estate 0/ Isaac F. Burton,

deceased. 

